Crayons and Mikan Sakura
by My Hopeless Romantic
Summary: Natsume didn't like many things. The meager list of his likes reached a total of one and it took him several drawings, a pack of 64 crayola crayons and Koko to realize, maybe he could make some room on his list to include Mikan Sakura. NatsumeMikan. #10


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice. All rights reserved to Tachibana Higuchi. Inspiration belongs to a **Baby Looney Tunes!** episode. The crayon idea came from a Harry Potter oneshot called **DayCare** by _Kim Hoppy, _so you should give it a read and give her props. Happy reading!

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**Crayons and Mikan Sakura**

**Dedicated to:  
**_-.- Caritate & Midnight Taiyou -.-  
_

**You bring out the kid in me.**

_Love is pure and innocent in the mind of an ordinary child.  
But then again, Natsume Hyuuga is anything but ordinary._

_-;-  
_

Natsume Hyuuga didn't like a lot of things.

He didn't like many things at all.

His list of dislikes outweighed his list of likes by _far_, but that didn't bother him. He liked to think that he was a simple child—yes, he was a very simple child. Compared to the children who threw tantrums over chocolate sweets and toys, Natsume had never cared much for those trivial things.

He looked around the small kindergarten classroom with distaste but didn't bother wrinkling his nose. Doing that required effort and one of the things Natsume Hyuuga disliked the most was exerting effort when it was unneeded. His father had told him long ago that in order to be a man, one refrained from acting like a child.

Natsume was not like the other children in his class.

Of that much, he was certain.

Across the room, he saw Kokoro Yome. The little boy was too _loud _and he got along with everyone too well. Natsume didn't get along with Koko, though. He didn't like it when the stupid, little Mind Reader laughed at his thoughts. Koko disrespected him and Natsume didn't like it when he was disrespected.

Even at the age of five—little Natsume Hyuuga demanded respect and admiration.

**-/- Crayons and Mikan Sakura -/-**

Koko looked at his drawing with a critical eye, wondering why it looked so unfinished. He wanted to draw something _better _than Natsume for once. Everyone always seemed to like Natsume's drawings more, for reasons Koko could never understand. Koko's were just as good! He could have sworn!

Was it because Natsume was cooler than he was?

Koko was not very impressed.

Instead, he put his drawing back on the ground and looked through his package of crayons. He didn't have very many, because for some reason, every time Serina-sensei declared it was arts and crafts once more, he was missing another handful of colors. Koko had a feeling Mochu had taken them, for he had doubles and even _triples _of the same color, at times, but the last time he accused the boy of taking them, he'd cried and Koko had been sent to The Wall.

He'd missed _Snack Time_ that day.

It was a horror Koko never wished to repeat.

For today's arts and crafts lesson, Serina-sensei had given them a theme:_ Fairy tales_. All of the pretty girls in class had squealed and whooped with glee. Koko had been excited too, but he tried not to make a big deal about it because Natsume had thought the theme was stupid. He didn't believe in fairytales, Koko had heard him say in his mind, and Koko wondered why.

He had already started drawing a fire breathing dragon but as he shook his meager box of crayons, he realized he didn't have the appropriate colors. He had drawn the green skin and scales with a dark green crayon and Serina-sensei had even helped him outline what would be his dragon's fire of destruction! But he couldn't possible color in his fire if he did not have any yellows or reds, now could he? Koko had lost his red and yellow crayons (or if his suspicions were correct, Mochu had stolen them!) and the thought of being unable to finish his drawing left an empty feeling in his chest.

Unless he was merely hungry. Koko looked at the clock and the tickers were very much near _Snack Time. _Perhaps he was hungry.

He thought about leaving the drawing just as it was; lime green scales with hints of black. He thought it looked like a fierce little thing but when he had asked Natsume, the boy had taken one look at it and snorted.

In Koko's opinion, that wouldn't do at all.

Koko looked over at his classmates. There was a really pretty green haired girl that he liked, though he sometimes wondered why her hair colour was green. He didn't care though, he really liked her. Her Alice was really neat. She could turn into a cat/dog. He'd always liked cats and dogs. Dogs, especially. He thought that cats smelled bad—especially in their litter boxes.

He shook his head and looked at her picture and smiled. Like his, her drawing was clouded with a mass of green. He didn't really know what she was trying to draw but he liked it. Maybe because it looked a lot like his. Once again, he didn't care.

He looked over at Mikan and snorted. For a really pretty girl, she sure wasn't creative. She'd been drawing the same two girls (her and her best friend, scary Imai!) every single arts and crafts lesson. He looked at the colours that she used. She was using pink and purple.

He wrinkled his nose. Pink and purple weren't proper dragon colors—that much was for sure.

He looked back at Natsume's drawing and his mouth promptly fell open in amazement. Natsume Hyuuga had been drawing a prince but the most amazing thing of all, was that he had used a red crayon. Koko needed red for his fire! At the moment, the crayon was lying on the ground and if he reached over a _little_ bit, he'd be able to grab it. Koko's face split into a grin and he reached over with determination.

Just as his fingers were about to close around the offending red crayon, Natsume slapped his hands away and grabbed the crayon, hugging it to his chest protectively with a glare on his face. "Don't _touch_ my stuff," he hissed darkly.

Koko made another mad grab for the red crayon that Natsume had placed at his side but Natsume slapped his hands away, once again. "_Don't_ touch my crayons!" Natsume snarled, clutching the crayon close to his heart. "Or I'll _tell_!"

From beside him, Mikan gasped with surprise and put her hands firmly on her little waist. "That's not nice, Natsume-kun. You know you're supposed to share with others!"

Natsume sniffed and turned away but by this time, the teacher had arrived and she looked at the two boys with an arched eyebrow. "What is going on here? Koko and Natsume again? Every single day you boys are fighting over something else. What is it this time? You boys have made Tobita-kun cry in the back," she said sternly.

She was frowning.

Koko wanted to cower.

Natsume looked at her with an indifferent expression and said, "Koko tried to steal my crayon." He looked up at Serina with his bottomless red eyes and held it up. With his red eyes staring up at her like that, it was no wonder Serina immediately snarled at Koko.

**-/- Crayons and Mikan Sakura -/-**

Mikan, with her long brown hair braided into two long pigtails on either corner of her ears, ran up to her best friend Hotaru to show off her drawing.

"You see, Hotaru-chan!" she started with a bright smile and an adorable voice. She pointed at her drawing and said, "This is Princess Mikanna and Princess Hotako! Don't you like the way I drew them? And look at Mikanna's _hair_!"

Hotaru glanced at the picture and rolled her velvet eyes almost painfully. "Her hair looks like yours, _again_."

Mikan brightened, "You noticed that, too? Do you think I'll be a princess when I grow up then?" she asked excitedly, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Hotaru scowled and walked away towards Ruka and promptly snatched his drawing away to look at the picture critically. Mikan pouted and went back to her spot on the ground situated conveniently between Natsume and Koko.

From the corner of his eyes, Natsume regarded the little brunette and watched as she riffled through her small pile of crayons. She had a pack of 12 Laurentien crayons, he noted with pity. Everyone knew Crayola was better than Laurentien. He looked around his body and looked at each and every crayon that he owned. All of them were scattered around his body; he was still clutching onto the red crayon with all of his might, glaring in Koko's direction who, in Natsume's opinion, was eyeing it with an almost hungry expression.

Natsume scowled.

"Ne, Natsume-kun… are you okay?" a cute voice asked. Snapping his head back to the girl beside him, Natsume tried not to lean away from her face inching closer to his. "You look really angry and _wow_, your drawing looks really pretty!"

He dropped his eyes back to his drawing and he too, had to marvel at the awesome prince that he had drawn. He looked back at Mikan and grunted.

"No really, Natsume-kun. You drew a prince and I drew a princess!"

He wanted to tell her there wasn't much to draw when their theme was _Fairy tales _since almost every other girl in class had drawn the same thing. Except for that Imai girl, he thought. She had decided to draw what looked to be a club with metallic spikes protruding from the tip. Honestly, he shook his head. Natsume looked at the expectant girl in front of him before deciding against it—she looked too delighted.

"Hey, hey! I drew a dragon," Koko piped up, shoving his green infested picture in front of their faces. "See? See? I think dragons are_ way _better than princes any day! Don't you think, Mikan_-chan_!"

Mikan gasped as if it was the first time she'd seen a dragon. Then she giggled, looking at him with large brown eyes and an equally large, innocent smile and he fought the tingle of heat threatening to creep up his cheeks. "It's really good, huh Natsume-kun?"

He snorted his disapproval before going back to his drawing, making sure to add lots of red to the prince's red armour. This didn't seem to placate the little girl because she tapped him shyly on the shoulder, "Ne, ne… Natsume-kun!"

He grunted at her excited expression before looking away. "Let's show Hotaru-chan our pictures, okay!"

Instead of answering her naïve question, Natsume glared at Koko, turning his head away and shoved a crayon to her face. She gasped. "Your crayon?"

Without looking back, he grunted his permission.

She gaped and cradled the red crayon in her small hands before looking up into his eyes. A large smile graced her lips before she held onto the crayon even tighter and Natsume couldn't help but wince at her death grip on his precious red crayon. She smiled widely and grabbed one his hands and squeezed. "Natsume-kun, thank you!"

Koko, with a large grin on his face, looked excitedly at the red crayon and asked, "Mikan-chan, could I _please_ use that after you?" He pouted adorably, his lower lip jutting out and like he couldn't keep from grinning, he smiled wickedly revealing two missing front teeth.

_Charming._

Natsume wrinkled his nose at the thought of Koko's hand on _his_ crayon and shuddered at the thought of touching it afterward. That just wouldn't do—it wouldn't do at all.

As if reading his thoughts, Mikan looked up at him with her large brown eyes before saying in a small voice, "Ne, Koko-kun. I don't think Natsume-kun would want you touching his crayon. You'll get in trouble again, remember?"

"That's okay! I need red for my fire breathing dragon, see?" he shoved the picture in front of her face again and she wrinkled her nose. "You can ask Natsume-kun. This crayon isn't mine, Koko-kun. It's his, see? I can't just let you take it or else Natsume-kun will _never_ let me use it again!"

She pouted, her bottom lip trembling just the tiniest bit as she looked at the crayon fondly.

Koko scowled and pouted once more before leaning over to grab Mikan by the wrist. "I need that crayon," he mumbled softly—almost devious.

Just as his pudgy fingers were about to clamp onto her wrist, Natsume slapped his hands away to tug Mikan into his chest, holding her almost protectively with a glare on his face. "Don't _touch_ her," he hissed darkly. He proceeded to bring her over to his corner of the kindergarten classroom with his Crayola crayons still converged in a circle.

With a determined gleam in his eye, Koko walked over to Natsume's corner and leaned over to grab Mikan's wrist again but once again, Natsume slapped it away, opting to grab her by the waist and almost throwing her behind him. Mikan, all the while, continued clutching the red crayon for dear life as she looked wide eyed at the spectacle before her.

Natsume glared at Koko with what Mikan was surprised to realize was disgust before he grabbed her wrist in his hand and snapped, "Don't _touch_ her. You're gross_."_

Koko whimpered and muttered something that sounded like, _Dragons don't need to have fire, _before his eyes alighted on Sumire, and he skipped over to her side with a happy, toothless grin on his face.

"Ne, Natsume-kun, I—um—I don't have to use your crayon if you don't want me to," Mikan murmured quietly, offering the offending crayon to him, looking silently at the ground with her bangs covering her eyes. He saw the slight tremor of her lips before closing her hand over the crayon and pushing her hand back toward her.

"Just use it and give it back when you're done," he said coolly, turning back to his drawing. "But remember, be _careful_."

She nodded her head, tearful eyes wide as she clutched onto the crayon with a solemn expression on her face. She grabbed one of his little hands that were significantly bigger than hers, smiling widely, "Thank you, Natsume-kun!"

If anybody had something to say about what they'd just seen, they were silenced with a deathly glare sent their way by the little Hyuuga boy himself. He, in turn, picked up a blue crayon and continued drawing, distracted by the charming smile on his companion's face and the light hum parting from her closed lips.

His list of likes had just reached the massive total of two.

_Crayons and Mikan Sakura._

He chanced one last glance at the latter with his crayon and smiled a small, secretive smile of his own. A snort of laughter escaped from the boy on her other side and Natsume narrowed his eyes at the Mind Reader. He never really did like that Mind Reader, he mused bitterly.

A smirk formed on his lips.

Natsume watched as Koko blinked in confusion. His moss picture had turned into a pile of ashes in the blink of an eye and still, Mikan Sakura hardly noticed as she colored away with the red crayon in her hands. And as Natsume looked at the two things that he actually _liked_, he couldn't help but think that she was oblivious, but he wouldn't have had it any other way.

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**This oneshot was pretty much inspired by the Baby Loony Tunes characters. Then again, I **_had _**to make Natsume like Natsume. Bugs is a little too happy and Natsume just can't pull that kind of character off. That would be creepy if he did. **

_My Hopeless Romantic_**  
**


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